My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. I'm a wizard. I work out of an office in midtown Chicago. As far as I know, I'm the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country. You can find me in the yellow pages, under Wizards. Believe it or not, I'm the only one there.

With rent past due and a decent meal becoming an issue of some importance, Harry needs work, and soon. A call from a distraught wife, and another from Lt Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit makes Harry believe things are looking up, but they are about to get worse, much worse. Someone is harnessing immense supernatural forces to commit a series of grisly murders. Someone has violated the first law of magic: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Tracking that someone takes Harry into the dangerous underbelly of Chicago, from mobsters

I own most of the Dresden Files, some in hardcover thanks to a fantastic yard sale, and others for Kindle and Audible. Yep, I REALLY wanted to read them but for some reason, I never started. 2018 seems to be the year for all things urban fantasy. At least it’s my current genre mood, so I decided to jump in during Take Control and went with the audio edition. Storm Front by Jim Butcher introduced the world and the wizard, Harry Dresden, as he solved a murder mystery that everyone thinks he committed.

I feel like the last urban fantasy fan standing to have finally begun this series, but I am also delighted to have so many books lined up and waiting for me.

Five Reasons to Grab Storm Front

Harry Dresden is a cat-loving wizard for hire. He isn’t overly confident, is vulnerable like a human and tends to risk helping people even to his own detriment. He takes odd cases but most of his bills are paid assisting the Chicago Police Department as a consultant.

While Storm Front is far from perfect, Butcher sets the world up, introducing the White Council (they oversee Wizards) and Harry himself. I love the potential I see here and understand why this character and world are fan favorites.

Harry has two cases. The first is for a missing husband, a job he normally doesn’t take but he’s persuaded. The second case involves a double murder that is dark and sadistic. The Police have called him in to assist and things get intense when it looks like the deeds were performed by a wizard.

The supernatural realm, magic, and creatures are very cool! Giant creepy crawlers, circles, golems and more can be found within.

The book is laced with humor and I found myself laughing aloud. It offset the gore, suspense, and struggles our hero faced.

Harry is complex, flawed, quick to anger and talks to himself and his cat named Mister. I adored the man. He isn’t polished, doesn’t date often and has an authenticity about him. The fact that he acts like an old dime store novel PI was delightful.

I’ve only been listening to audiobooks since, January of 2013, so it was interesting to listen to an audio produced in 2002. Oh my how we have changed! James Marsters is the perfect voice for the gruff wizard but I was taken aback by the noises on the track. Swallowing, breathing and an adjusting office chair. At least I think it was a chair. I jumped off and listened to a later one and yep, either Marsters learned to control his breathing and swallowing or technology is brilly because all of those sounds were absent. Of course, Marsters is now the voice of Harry, so I will continue my adventures in audio.

About Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resides mostly inside his own head, but his head can generally be found in his home town of Independence, Missouri. Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990′s when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist.

About Kimberly

Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. She's a self-professed Whovian, as well as a Supernatural, and Sherlock Holmes junkie, She enjoys sharing books, tips, recipes and hosting the Sunday Post. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat...Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

45 Responses to “Storm Front by Jim Butcher”

I love this series. I just started it a few years ago. I can’t remember if there were sounds that bothered me or not. I know that isn’t an issue any more. I’m listening to the new anthology that just came out (be sure to get those too.) Marsters does a great job with this series. I hope you’ll continue on the audio.

I’m glad to see you enjoyed this! I have been meaning to start this series, but haven’t gotten around to it. I’m not a fan of audio books, listening to books, just doesn’t sit well with me, but I might be tempted to try one of these on audio since I’m a fan of James Marsters.

I’m so glad you finally jumped into Harry’s world! My kids and I LOVE him! Be prepared to hear those noises for a few more books. The quality gets better with each, but I think it’s book 5 or 6 where Marsters really hits his stride and never looks back. Keep in mind, too that I’m pretty sure Storm Front was his first audio. So, while not horrible, it definitely does not win any awards for sound quality.

You are not alone in wanting to read this series but never quite getting around to it. It’s on my list too! It sounds like such a fun series. I’ve just started trying to do more with audiobooks so maybe I’ll go that route when I finally start the series.

I started this series last year and am slowly working my way through it. I’ve enjoyed the books so far and I did listen to one in audio, which was just as good as reading. Glad you have started and are enjoying. ^_^ Thank’s for the review.

This is the series I think of when I think Urban Fantasy and I’ve been wanting to read it for some time. I’m glad it lived up to your expectations and what fun to have a whole new world to explore! I’m looking forward to reading this series myself.

You are not the last one. I’m still behind you on these. I’ve had plans to read them and will, but I have not been any hurry on them while I finish up others.

Interesting how the audio narration quality has changed. And, yes, you are right about new tech working to dub out all those sounds. I got to hear an unpolished version of an audio for an antho my story is in and it sounds like that with the swallows and extra sounds until it gets run back through some sort of tech that takes all that out.

Yay! You have started reading Harry Dresden 🙂 I have read most of the books in the series and am slowly working my way back through the series in audio. I don’t remember noticing any of the sounds that you mentioned. Maybe I did at the time and forgot. I love Marsters and have to agree that he is the perfect voice for Harry.

I’ve read the first couple of books in this series and remember sort of watching the TV show when it was out (I think I only watched a couple and then it was cancelled) and liking them both. I think I almost have all the books. I just need to make time for them…and every other series I need to finish up. 😉